Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort workers ratify new contract
Workers receive raise, increased healthcare funding from hotel.
Waikoloa Village – 99 percent of union hotel workers at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort voted yes to ratify a new contract that will improve the lives of 288 workers and their families.
Under the terms of the new, two-year contract, non-tipped workers at the Waikoloa Marriott will receive wage increases of $1.67 per hour for two years, with full back pay to July 1, 2014. This is $0.27 more than the first two years of the current industry standard five-year contract, thereby narrowing the gap between Waikoloa and Waikiki hotel wages. Hotel management has also agreed to increase its contribution to the health & welfare fund, which funds the medical and pension benefits of union workers.
“This is a much needed wage increase for us,” says Peter Fukuyama, who has worked in the engineering department at Waikoloa Marriott for 10 years, “This also helps secure our medical and pension benefits.”
“It’s a step in the right direction so that we can catch up to the union standard that other Local 5 hotels have. We can achieve this if we all continue to stand together,” says Oren Yamagata, a bell captain who has worked at Waikoloa Marriott for 33 years.
Waikoloa Beach Marriott was recently purchased by SMG I Hotel Waikoloa LLC, a joint venture between mainland hotel investment firms Silverwest Hotel Partners LLC, Mariner Real Estate Management, and an affiliate of Global Endowment Management. Marriott will continue to manage the hotel. The ownership change will not affect Local 5 members at Waikoloa Marriott, who will continue their employment with Marriott.